novelsite Chapter 7 Starport
Chapter 7 Starport
Everyone was gathered in the hall. Just three hours earlier, Lieutenant Li Guangyu had addressed everyone here, expressing her disappointment and doubts about them.
That large box of weapons and equipment has now disappeared; it's estimated that it was disposed of.
The surrounding chatter mostly focused on curiosity about the outside world; everyone wanted to see what it was like outside.
"What do you think there will be here?" He Xu asked, slightly excited.
"As far as I know, this place originally only had asteroids." Di Yan recalled the few pieces of knowledge he had about the universe.
"That's just how it was before. These people wouldn't bring us here for no reason," He Xu speculated. "This must be a base of the Viyin Star Fleet!"
"I think so too, this place is very suitable for setting up a base." Di Yan had some knowledge of celestial mechanics.
A Lagrange point is a region of gravitational equilibrium between a massive planet and a star. The larger the mass of the planet, the larger the area covered by this equilibrium region.
As the most massive planet in the solar system, Jupiter's stable Lagrange point, which forms the Sun-Jupiter system, covers a vast area with a radius of over 40 million kilometers. To put it simply, nearly 40 million Earths could be densely laid out in this area.
Anchoring an entire fleet here would be like placing a few tiny paper boats, no bigger than a fingernail, on the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
These amazing "space parking lots" are located at the vertices of two equilateral triangles formed by the line connecting Jupiter and the Sun. There are two such triangles, namely regions L4 and L5.
Before long, the arched hatch at the front of the hall opened, and Lieutenant Li Guangyu and Second Lieutenant Han Qinghe walked out one after the other. Several other people then walked through the hall, ignoring the people gathered there, and disappeared without a trace.
Li Guangyu and Han Qinghe had changed into new clothes. Unlike their previous military green suits, they were now wearing silver-gray uniforms with a moderate shade and dark red trim.
The clothing was very formal and had a unique feel to it, complementing the environment inside the J-45.
Lieutenant Li Guangyu cleared his throat, and the scene gradually quieted down.
"Gentlemen, we have now arrived at the starport, or base, of the Viyin Star Fleet. For the next period of time, you will live here and learn some necessary skills to lay the foundation for your future missions."
After hearing this, He Xu raised his eyebrows at Di Yan, giving him a look that said, "See? I was right."
"The preparations outside will be completed soon. Afterwards, Han Qinghe will take you to have a meal, and after a few hours of rest, we will begin the theoretical lessons. The Viyin Starship uses UTC standard time, so you will need to adjust your schedule for the next few days."
Li Guangyu raised his hand and tapped it in the air. He was probably wearing eye protection. "It's 4:03 AM standard time. You are free to move around during this time, but you must gather near this starship before 7:00 AM sharp."
She lowered her arm and looked at the tightly sealed bulkhead beside her. "Just a reminder, you can call Xavier from anywhere."
Less than half a minute later, a faint sound suddenly came from the bulkhead next to them, like the sound of air leaking, or the soft sound of smooth metal sheets scraping against each other.
Everyone turned to look and discovered that the bulkhead, like a soft, living thing, had split open horizontally from the middle, gradually expanding upwards and downwards until the entire bulkhead almost disappeared, revealing the outside world.
The J-45 was parked on a flat ground. The ground was dark gray with irregular black stripes running straight across it. Occasionally, a faint white light would flash by, which was particularly eye-catching, like a series of nerves transmitting signals.
"Now jump with me."
As Li Guangyu spoke, he walked to the edge and jumped down without hesitation. Han Qinghe followed suit.
This place is more than ten meters above the ground. Under normal circumstances, doing this would result in either death or serious injury.
Di Yan jumped down with the group; it wasn't the first time anyone had experienced the Starship Force's gravity control technology.
Suddenly, the weight beneath his feet vanished, and his body was suddenly supported by some force, beginning to fall at a steady speed. It took him more than five seconds to descend the several meters.
The landing speed was very slow, roughly equivalent to jumping down a step less than half a meter high.
Besides Li and Han, there were three other people on the ground: one woman and two men. They seemed to have been waiting there for a while.
Lieutenant Li Guangyu began to introduce them one by one.
All three were instructors. One man was in charge of academic classes, another was in charge of theoretical explanations, and the female instructor was in charge of tactical training.
This arrangement caught Di Yan's eye. He hadn't expected that women would make up a significant proportion of the Weiyin Starship Army. Whether it was Li Guangyu or the instructor in front of him, they all held important positions.
"It's an honor to meet you all," the female instructor named Xue Jingyi began. "I have a general understanding of the situation and know that you are all highly skilled. But I still hope that you can calm down and learn from me, because you will be exposed to new things and will face various dangerous factors in the future. I hope you can take responsibility for your own lives."
Her voice was somewhat high-pitched, but its sweetness was in no way inferior to Li Guangyu's in terms of strength.
The brief meeting came to an end. Li Guangyu and the three instructors left, while Han Qinghe led everyone to have a meal as agreed.
From the moment they jumped, Mpuente and his teammates looked around curiously, grinning their white teeth, behaving like teenagers on a field trip.
As the group moved forward, Mpuente nudged Diyan's arm and pointed around with a smile.
Di Yan observed his surroundings and found that everything was like the set of a grand science fiction movie, with every detail clearly visible.
The J-45 is actually parked on one of the platforms within a massive cavity. There are many such platforms, varying in size, distributed along the inner wall of a vertical, deep well.
This deep well is several kilometers in diameter, its walls covered with intricate details. The overall color is bluish-gray, giving it a hazy, dreamlike appearance, like a constructed alien city. Tiny specks of blue light shimmer, draping this bluish-gray, sky-covering wall with a magnificent chain of beads.
Occasionally, white starships would rise from below, their tail engines flashing blue light. They were very fast, rising several kilometers in the blink of an eye, and then coming to a stop within a second or two.
The extremely high acceleration that the crew should have experienced was easily neutralized by mature gravity control technology, just as Di Yan and his team had personally experienced.
At this point, the sidewalls of the deep well will begin to deform, "growing" outwards to form a new platform on which the starship will then land.
The starships that arrived later, and those that were docking at the time, all had different shapes and sizes: some were square, some were flat like flying fish, and others were slender and streamlined like shuttles...
He could hardly find any starships that were the same shape; they all had some differences in appearance.
Even though Di Yan had watched many science fiction movies and experienced many future technologies along the way, and had developed a certain level of tolerance, he was still incredibly shocked when it all happened before his eyes.
The sight nearly suffocated him; his heart was in his throat, pounding as if it would jump out.
Like Grandma Liu visiting the Grand View Garden, the group was overwhelmed by the magnificent futuristic science fiction elements.
After passing through the platform and entering the inner side of the well wall, another space city comes into view. The interior has many layers, with a staggered terrain and people coming and going. I wonder how many people work and live here.
Han Qinghe led the way, and Di Yan wondered how he remembered such a complicated route.
The procession made at least a dozen turns and went up two elevators along the way. I never expected that we would have to walk such a long distance just to have a meal.
Until Di Yan caught a detail.
The surrounding surface was dark gray with irregular black crisscross stripes. The surface seemed meaningless, but there was always a bright white line under Han Qinghe's feet, twisting and leading forward.
This white line was like a guide, leading Han Qinghe and the others forward to find their destination in the complex city streets.
As Han Qinghe walks past, the white line will immediately go out. Similarly, there is a white line in front of each passerby, which is usually only displayed within a range of about ten meters in front of the person being guided.
After noticing this detail, Di Yan became even more certain of his idea.
The Viyin could not possibly have accomplished all of this alone; these technologies were completely beyond his comprehension.
However, for now, he is compliant with all arrangements made by his superiors, not because he is submissive, but because the current situation is too unclear and he has to act according to circumstances.
This is also why he readily accepted Li Guangyu's order to kill Quilt: firstly, he himself enjoys challenges and excitement; secondly, after considering all factors, only by demonstrating sufficient cooperation and loyalty could he possibly access deeper secrets.
The more secrets he knows about the unknown Viyin Star Fleet, the more advantageous it will be for him.
"Guess what we'll eat?" He Xu came up to us. "I just chatted with Yuancun Mingyan for a while, and he said he wanted to eat his hometown food. I bet him there won't be any of those fancy things here."
He gave Han Qinghe's back a mysterious look. "I think there's probably only nutritional paste or something like that here. You know, it's that kind of stuff that tastes like rubber and is extremely unpalatable."
"Have you eaten it or what?"
"No, how could that be? I've seen science fiction movies, and there are similar settings in them."
He Xu stroked his chin. "Be prepared mentally. Don't have high expectations for the food here."
……
Looking at the abundant and authentic Chinese cuisine in front of him, He Xu fell silent, while Di Yan, sitting opposite him, wolfed down his food.
Di Yan was starving, and the long-lost salty, sweet, and spicy flavors kept stimulating his taste buds.
He had been eating compressed biscuits for two days straight, and hadn't had a drop of water since yesterday. Even the most determined person would eventually succumb to the allure of delicious food.
"Why aren't you eating? It's delicious." Di Yan's words were mumbled, and his mouth was covered in bright red sauce.
"I take back what I said before." He Xu silently picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.
Nearby, Naohiko Tomura and Wasabi Isayama were enjoying Japanese cuisine, constantly praising the exquisite taste of the food. When she was with Naohiko Tomura, Wasabi Isayama was noticeably more cheerful, and a smile often appeared on her face.
On the other side, Mpuente and his teammates grabbed handfuls of their hometown's hand-grabbed rice and stuffed them into their mouths, nodding repeatedly, the light reflecting off their dark foreheads.
The huge restaurant has hundreds of seats, and all sorts of people come and go. Only a small number are wearing the silver-gray uniforms of the Viyin Starship Army; most are in casual clothes.
"I guess these people were born and raised here and have never been back to Earth." He Xu saw a young couple having a meal with their two children in the distance.
"Yes, the entire world has been kept in the dark."
"I don't think it's a bad thing. The Starfleet Force has its own plans." He Xu waved his chopsticks. "After all, they haven't done anything to wrong Earth."
"That's not necessarily true."
Di Yan looked up at He Xu and said, "Bad people never tattoo their identities on their faces." After saying that, he continued to eat.
"I hope so." He Xu looked thoughtfully at the happy couple and the two cheerful little boys surrounding them. "These children were born here. For them, perhaps Earth is not home, but this is."
Di Yan didn't reply. After finishing his meal, he wiped his mouth and quietly looked at He Xu.
He Xu felt the pressure from Di Yan, so he stopped talking and buried his head in his food.
A commotion suddenly arose in the distance.
Di Yan looked over He Xu's shoulder and saw a group of white people drinking and laughing together two rows of tables and chairs. They were probably laughing heartily, and the bottles on the table were scattered.
He recognized two of them as the two he had previously suspected of being connected to Quilt.
At this moment, Han Qinghe walked over and said something to those people, and they became much more obedient. Their fiery enthusiasm was dampened, and no one touched the wine on the table anymore.
He Xu turned his head following Di Yan's gaze, then turned back again: "Do you know him?"
Di Yan shook his head, his eyes filled with wariness.
……
The morning cultural classes were held in a small room where people sat on chairs with small tables, and the instructors explained things from the front.
The room is predominantly bright and white, a stark contrast to the dark gray tones outside, making it appear much brighter.
The instructor's lesson today was very basic, mainly focusing on the hierarchical order and basic etiquette within the starship force.
In summary, the Viyin Starship Force follows Earth's mature military rank system, consisting of soldiers, junior officers, field officers, and generals, with each major rank further divided into three minor ranks: junior, intermediate, and senior.
In the ranks of soldiers, below corporal is private first class, and below that is private.
Above sergeant is a special rank, which is sergeant major, the highest military rank a soldier can achieve.
Only soldiers who enter the ranks of commanders can be given the rank of junior officer, and can continue to be promoted.
According to the instructors, everyone present has moved beyond the ranks of new recruits and is now uniformly classified as corporals, belonging to the main force fighting on the front lines.
As the course progressed, Di Yan felt somewhat conflicted, as it sounded like they would have to personally go into battle.
The Starfleet Force possesses a large number of starships. Although it is still unclear what kind of firepower they have, based on the level of technology they have demonstrated so far, including gravity control technology and a flight speed that has reached the terrifying speed of light, there is theoretically no reason why they cannot build weapons with considerable power.
Or rather, if one can reach such a level, it wouldn't be excessive to create any kind of weapon; even world-destroying weapons that "cleanse the earth from the sky" might exist.
In such a situation, is it really necessary for soldiers to physically go to the front lines and participate in the war in real time?
Di Yan listened attentively, eager to have his questions answered, but the instructor only conveyed the knowledge points without providing any explanations.
Finally, he couldn't resist any longer, and his arm began to twitch—he was about to raise his hand to ask a question.
Just then, someone on the right rear suddenly slammed their hand on the small table, raising one arm high in the air.